Her Tricks
by KirbyLover
Summary: Everyone knows mousy, uninteresting Ginny Weasley. Ginny knows who she wants to be... fiery, witty, seductive. She loves, lusts, hates, and conquers anyone and everything to find herself. preGOF
1. Just a Little Less Pathetic

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my muse and this plot.

**Prologue: Just a Little Less Pathetic**

Ginny Weasley was in her fourth year of Hogwarts when she took what she would always think of as her "reality check". It was Christmas holidays at Grimmauld place. Ginny had sat down in front of her mirror and cold bloodedly assessed herself. She was a little girl, dysfunctional and stumbling on her own, so pathetically desperate to fit in that no one in their right mind would ever want her. She had no friends outside of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. And if Ginny was honest with herself, even they weren't her friends. They were the golden trio, and she was just the tagalong—that was how they saw her.

Ron had made his own friends; he didn't want or need to share with his baby sister. Hermione always shared Ginny's room when she stayed at the Burrow, but would leave for Harry and Ron's room as soon as possible, making it clear who her real friends were. And as much as it broke Ginny's heart, Harry would never wake up one day in love with the little girl who followed him around like a puppy. He was kind, but that was all that could be expected.

Her status as the youngest in need of protection had been cemented with Harry's rescue of her in her first year. She was an insecure little naïve girl, easily duped by a diary, and would be in the eyes of her family as long as she continued on in the way she was.

Ginny looked in the mirror and saw a little girl wearing secondhand robes with plain brown eyes, childish features, red hair that fell halfway down her back all in one length—a most old-fashioned, unstylish cut. She was short, and that added to her childishness, and her curves were still underdeveloped. Ginny looked hard at herself, making a decision.

When she went down to dinner that night, no one noticed at first, but then Molly Weasley gasped. "Your-your hair," she stammered at her daughter and everyone took notice of Ginny's new look. Her hair was cut in choppy layers around her shoulders—not high fashion, or even pretty, but the best she could pull off. She had only wanted a change. Harry, Hermione, and her father each said something nice about it, Ron rolled his eyes, Molly was horrified, Tonks looked delighted, Sirius nodded amusedly at her, and the twins each ruffled her new hair, pleased at the first sign of individuality from their little sister.

When Ginny had gone back to school, nothing changed. She was still the same mousy, spineless little Weasley in secondhand robes that she always had been, only now with shorter, choppier hair, and with the exception of a random comment from her potions partner, Loony Lovegood, and a snide remark about her family's not being able to afford a proper barber from Draco Malfoy, no one noticed.

But Ginny no longer chased after the trio around like a homeless animal, joining uninvited into their studying at the library or following them to the kitchens for a snack. Instead she did her homework first thing in her new spare time, having no hobbies or social life to speak of, and found her marks actually improved to the point of reasonability. Having more time left over, Ginny took to checking out stacks of novels and magazines from the library to read up in her dorm to kill time.

Hermione, Harry, or her brother would occasionally invite her to go with them to Hogsmeade or to visit Hagrid when the trio ran into her, but Ginny, determined not to impose herself where she obviously didn't fit in, always declined. The three would exchange subtle looks of relief, and it still stung, but Ginny had long ago accepted the fact that Hermione wasn't her best girlfriend, Harry wasn't interested, and Ron, though overprotective, would rather be so from a distance. Ginny even stopped sitting with them at meals, listening to their conversation, and instead took to sitting next to Neville Longbottom, who wasn't much of a conversationalist either, and Colin Creevey, who was a fellow scorned Harry Potter admirer himself, and did all the talking besides.

Despite her newfound declaration of independence from the trio, when she took up doodling, which she later tried to turn into a hobby, the three—especially Harry—were often the subject of her rather horrid efforts. She would sit on her bed in her dorm trying to perfect the soulful eyes of the boy-who-lived when she tired of her reading. When sketching at meals, trying and failing miserably to capture the essence of Harry Potter in ink, after she crumpled up her parchment Neville would look at her with something akin to pity in his eyes and Colin would playfully suggest she take up photography. Once in a while, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil would nudge each other and look over at her efforts and smirk knowingly at each other, the bitches, seeing the lovesick little Weasley being just a little bit more pathetic. It made Ginny want to cry.

Surprisingly, it was Luna Lovegood that made Ginny into an artist. During a potions lesson, Luna was mumbling something about blue-tailed burbells and Ginny looked at the girl, really looked at her, and realized that after her own fashion, Loony was really quite pretty. Luna had a doll-like look about her with a rounded face, porcelain skin, huge quavering blue eyes, and long lanky blonde hair, if a little scraggly. It was this look that inspired Ginny to doodle her partner instead of notes on her parchment in class, and to teach herself how to space features correctly and to accurately draw shapes she saw in human faces.

As a result, Ginny did abysmally in potions that year, but she also began to refer to Loony Lovegood as Luna in her head. Luna noticed Ginny's drawings and was quite flattered and ready to give drawing tips. As it turned out, Luna was a bit of an artist herself and drew political cartoons about the Ministry that, while sometimes were witty, often made no sense. Ginny found herself talking more and more with the girl during lessons, and by the end of the year, she had gone for coffee at Madam Puddifoot's at Hogsmeade with Luna and enjoyed herself thoroughly. She and Luna had a lot in common. Both outsiders, both struggling with loneliness, neither thought of highly in popular opinion. Each girl had found relief in the other. After all, with someone to spend time with in public and write to over summer, one's life seemed that much less pathetic.

On the last night at Hogwarts, Ginny took Luna to the girls' bathroom on the second floor (haunted by Myrtle and less likely to be interrupted) and brought Colin with his camera as well. She outlined Luna's eyes with kohl and put a zigzag part in her hair, brushing it out to be wilder than ever. The effect combined with Luna's natural dreaminess was incredibly ethereal. She looked beautiful, in an untamable way, and Ginny knew Colin was incredibly impressed. Having created her model, Ginny had Luna pose while Colin took picture after picture, practically panting with happiness. Ginny tried to sketch a little, but mostly admired Luna.

Colin, declaring Luna the most photogenic thing since Harry Potter, promised to send Ginny copies of the photos over the summer after they developed so that she could copy them for sketch practice. Ginny walked back up to Gryffindor tower with an impassioned Colin, who was coming up with mad plans for opening a modeling agency with Ginny. Luna had gone back up to Ravenclaw tower, still fully done up. Ginny wondered what Luna's dorm mates would think.

On the Hogwarts Express, Ginny rode back in a compartment shared with Luna, Colin, Neville, Dean Tomas, and Seamus Finnegan. It was the perfect ride back, because with the return of Voldemort (there had been an attack on the Ministry at the end of the year), the conversation revolved around what an idiot Fudge was, and Ginny felt at ease spending the ride back trashing Britain's Minister of Magic with the boys. Luna would occasionally throw in one of her strange theories from the Quibbler, her father's magazine, prompting further discussion. There were no awkward pauses or lack of conversation and Dean Thomas actually looked at Ginny in awe (with a flattering look that maybe hinted at something more) at one point when she let loose a string of artfully crafted curses borrowed from the twins to describe Fudge.

Ginny got off the Express and rejoined Ron and her parents with not only the original two planned correspondents for the summer, but with an additional three.


	2. Summer of Discontent

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. Don't be misled.   
Chapter One: Summer 

The summer wasn't bad; not nearly as awful as summers past, with no entertainment but her brothers. Ginny corresponded with Luna at least once a week, and Colin sent the promised pictures. Letters from Dean, Neville, and Seamus were also entertaining, and she tried her best to write back witty responses, and even got brave and sent out a few political cartoons she'd tried her hand at.

Ginny wondered amusedly if Ron would go into his overprotective mode if he knew that she was writing to three older boys. Of course he would. But Ron would never suspect his mousy little sister of establishing correspondence with boys in his year. Ginny felt a smug satisfaction at this.

The satisfaction died in July when the Weasleys moved out of the Burrow temporarily and into Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Unable to give out the address, Ginny's correspondences were put to a stop while Harry and Hermione were invited over to spend the rest of the summer with Ron. It was wickedly unfair.

Hermione would be sharing Ginny's room, as she always did whenever the trio got together over the summer.

Ginny had always had complicated emotions about Hermione. This time last year she had been equally overcome with devastating jealousy of the girl and longing to be her best friend. Hermione was smart, at the top of her year. Teachers loved her. Ginny had been marked as a poor student since the disaster that had been her first year. Hermione was part of the golden trio, the "dream team". She had proved herself many times over and was respected and seen as an equal by Harry and Ron. Ginny had similarly been cast a role in her first year, only hers was that of the victim, one she had not been able to break free of. Hermione was a part of something when Ginny was no one. Hermione had smarts, respect, and an identity—three things Ginny had desperately craved. Rabid jealousy aside, Ginny had felt that if someone with these qualities could accept her, there might be hope.

Ginny couldn't help looking forward to it, despite her resolution to stop tagging along after the trio. She felt that she'd grown up a little bit since last summer. This seemed the perfect opportunity to bond with Hermione.

Hermione arrived a week after the Weasleys moved the headquarters. Ginny was sketching a kohl-lined Luna when Hermione opened the door to her room and plopped her trunk on the floor. "I'll be out in a minute," she called to Ron. Turning her attention to Ginny, Hermione greeted her warmly. "Hello, Ginny. How've you been?"

"Oh, fine," replied Ginny, noticing the changes in Hermione. The other girl had always worn nice clothes, but now Hermione's casual style was bordering on trendy. Hermione's jeans had become hip huggers, and Ginny was fairly certain the brand name sweatshirt she wore fit right in with the current muggle style. Ginny noted the newly plucked eyebrows, the subtle lip-gloss. "You look nice," she added, wondering if Hermione's efforts were for her brother.

Hermione flushed a little, obviously pleased. "Thanks, you too. It's the sun I've gotten." She didn't seem to want her efforts to be noticed. "I see you're keeping up the hair," she said, returning the compliment politely.

Ginny nodded. She'd kept her hair chopped short in layers. Anything other than her old hair. Perhaps she'd ask Luna or someone to cut it properly for her at Hogwarts, making it look nice.

There was an awkward pause in which Ginny could find nothing to say, and Hermione's interest was clearly held outside the room.

"I'm going to go talk to Ron," Hermione finally said, making her way out the door. Ginny gave a little wave as Hermione turned around to flash back a smile as she left.

Ginny sighed and turned back to her drawing, hurt that the other girl hadn't even asked after it. But then again, wasn't that how it always happened?

The next morning Ginny, who'd become something of an early riser over the summer, awoke to a startling sight. Hermione Granger was sitting on her bed, clad in only her underwear, examining herself in the mirror across the room. Ginny blanked for a moment at the unusual sight, but then realized that Hermione was used to Ginny sleeping to noon, and was probably only allowing herself this moment of vulnerability because she didn't think she'd be caught. Ginny lowered her eyes half closed and continued to watch.

Hermione's form clad only in a plain white panties and a barely there sized bra walked across the room to her trunk and pull out and don some snug jeans and a lavender v-necked shirt.

Casting a glance at Ginny, who quickly closed her eyes, Hermione exited the room. Ginny briefly heard Ron's voice outside as the door was open, exclaiming over Harry's arrival. The door shut and the sound was gone.

Ginny was left alone. She lay in bed for a minute, thinking. Hermione had quietly snuck out of the room, leaving Ginny for Ron, not giving her any notice of Harry's arrival. In truth, Hermione probably expected Ginny to start following Harry around again one he arrived, and was hoping for some uninterrupted time with her two friends before Ginny the Lovesick Puppy got wind of Harry's appearance at Grimmauld Place.

Ginny forced herself to face the truth, just as she had done over Christmas. Bonding with Hermione wasn't going to happen. This would be like every other summer—the trio running off alone to spend time together. She would be left in the dust.

Slowly Ginny got out of bed, making her way out of the room, not bothering to dress. There was nothing to do. She couldn't very well sit around all summer sketching on parchment. She'd bore herself to death. Ginny despairingly made her was down to the kitchen, half- hoping she'd see Harry, half-hoping she wouldn't. Breakfast wasn't ready yet, and only Sirius was there, sitting at the table, reading the _Daily Prophet_.

"'Lo, Sirius," she said in what she hoped was a cheery voice, surprised to see him alone in here instead of spending time with his visitors.

Sirius looked up at her, startled. Ginny was sure she must look a fright, wearing an oversized T-shirt and pajama bottoms, her unevenly cut hair a mess.

"Oh, hello, Ginny," he greeted, voice a bit raspy. "How're you?"

Ginny was about to give a forced answer, but paused. "Bored," she answered honestly.

Sirius let out a deep chuckle. "Yeah, it gets that way around here." Ginny felt a little disgusted at herself. Here she was, drowning in self-pity while Sirius was trapped here in what must be hell for him with no escape.

"You know what you could do? There's this library up on the second floor… I know, I know, books during the summer, but there's some interesting stuff up there. This morning Tonks found a book on changing your hair color. Not that she needs it, but I thought you might appreciate something like that." Sirius looked almost intent on convincing her that she'd like the library, probably feeling useful for a moment for trying to give her some entertainment in his house.

Ginny saw herself sitting alone on her bed up in Gryffindor tower with a pile of books on a Hogsmeade weekend, and imagined herself spending the rest of vacation the same way, cooped up in her room. The image made her almost sick, but a look at Sirius's ridiculously hopeful face and nodded.

"Actually, I seem to have taken up reading this past year," she said conversationally.

"Another Hermione in the making, have we?" asked Sirius, pleased, as he got up. "I'll show you there, come on."

Ginny gave a sharp nod of consent, trying not to let it show on her face how the statement affected her. It was the sort of thing one would say to a child, and frankly, she didn't think she deserved it. She'd expected Sirius to give a little more thought than to compare a fifteen-year-old girl to another only a year older.

As though he read her mind, Sirius paused when he stood, looking at her with a frown. Perhaps she had let something show after all. "That look you gave me just now…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't be comparing you with Hermione. I always hated it when adults did that. Come on."

Ginny blinked as she followed Sirius out of the room. The last thing she had expected was an apology.

In the library, Sirius hunted down the book on hair colors he'd mentioned for her, and grabbed a few of his own. "I come here a lot," he admitted. "Sometimes there's just nothing else to do."

That afternoon Ginny sat curled up on her bed with a glass of chocolate milk and a stack of books on her nightstand, as she had so many nights before during her fourth year.

Harry had indeed arrived, and greeted her cordially over dinner, the first time she saw him since he arrived. (He, Ron, and Hermione had been off together.) Ginny was forced to talk to the trio in order to be involved in conversation, something she hadn't done in ages. Harry and Hermione were perfectly polite and Ron was typical Ron. Conversation centered around the attack on the Ministry in June by Voldemort, who had apparently been so desperate to get his hands on something from the Department of Mysteries that he had risked exposing his existence to the entire wizarding world. Most of the discussion focused around what Voldemort could have been after.

Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, and Mrs. Weasley were the only others at dinner, and they speculated wildly, which was difficult since none of them had any clear idea of what the unspeakables there worked on in the first place. Ginny participated in the discussion as best she could, trying to offer up what might be viable suggestions.

The trio had stayed rather quiet; surprisingly even Hermione wasn't giving her opinions on the matter. Ginny glanced over and saw the three exchanging looks. They obviously knew something even the Order was unaware of.

Frustration boiled inside her. Once again, Ginny had been left out of their little threesome. That stung, but the fact that her ideas were well received by the Order members helped ease her volatile emotions. Tonks especially liked a theory Ginny borrowed from Luna about the unspeakables harvesting a crop of vicious, sucking brains, even if Sirius and Lupin choked on their soup when she related it.

That was when Hermione tentatively brought up the subject of prophesies. This time, it was Sirius and Lupin who exchanged looks, leading Ginny to believe that she wasn't the only one who'd noticed the trio's suspicious behavior.

"What do you mean, Hermione?" asked Lupin, frowning.

"Well, I heard that the Department of Mysteries kept prophesies there, and I just thought that it might make more sense for You-Know-Who to be after something practical like a prophesy, rather than, say, a crop of sucker brains," Hermione explained logically.

Ginny felt her face heat up out of embarrassment and anger, despite the older girl's quick glance her way that seemed to say "Sorry about that, Gin."

There was a pause after Hermione's statement, and while her brother and Harry looked on in agreement, Hermione's statement was met with cautious looks from the adults.

"I'm not sure I'd call a prophecy practical," Sirius finally spoke in his rough voice.

This time Hermione blushed. "Well… I mean to say… It only really matters if You-Know-Who believes it's practical, doesn't it?"

The tension in the room tightened, like a string ready to snap, giving Ginny the feeling that Hermione, even with all her intelligence, was out of her league, as though she had erred in some way and was walking on eggshells.

Lupin spoke this time. "It would be hard to presume to know how You-Know-Who thinks."

It was a subtle reprimand, but a reprimand nonetheless, and it hit Hermione hard in the face. She went scarlet and nodded, returning to her dinner.

Ginny felt torn between pity for the other girl and triumph that she had gotten her comeuppance. It was as though she was seeing Hermione for the first time. Hermione was book smart, with a knack for wandwork, an excellent memory, and a work ethic that boosted her to the top of her year. Although she had respect for her peers, Hermione was far beyond them academically. Encouraged by praise from teachers and authority figures, she tried to fit into the world of adults, accumulating almost an arrogance as she overlooked the years of experience standing between her and them.

And Hermione's slip would cost the trio a lot, as Ginny would figure out later that evening. Walking back from the kitchen after helping her mother and Kreacher with the dishes, Ginny stopped as the voices of Sirius and Lupin carried from the parlor.

"It worries me if Dumbledore's giving information out to the children that he won't even tell Order members," Lupin was saying.

"I know, Moony," Sirius replied. There was a pause. "Have you noticed Ginny?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" asked Lupin, confused at the change of subject.

"She looks like Lily Potter. Have you noticed?"

"Oh, Sirius," Lupin began tiredly.

Ginny felt a little lighter as Sirius mentioned the comparison. Whether it was the attention or her crush on Harry, Ginny wasn't sure.

"No, wait, Moony. I didn't think of it either until a few days ago when she was asking me about the library. And she just gave me this sharp look, you know? It was exactly the same look that Lily would give us when we were breaking rules or something. And then there's her hair, of course."

"Hmm," said Lupin noncommittally. "Well, were you breaking any rules?"

Sirius burst out laughing. "God, you do have a sense of humor. And no, I was not. I was just thinking. Could you imagine Harry and Ginny…? Molly tells me that Ginny has quite the infatuation."

Ginny was suddenly angry, all flattery at the comparison melting away, not even the least bit thrilled at the insinuation that she might be ideal for Harry. So her mother was still going on about that, was she? As if Ginny were some sort of child with no sense of privacy who could be gossiped about. Her image as the girl who liked Harry was coming up to hit her in the face again. Burning with rage, Ginny hurried quietly from the place outside the parlor and up toward the bedrooms on the second floor.

The trio was standing huddled in the hallway, looking troubled. Ron's face cleared as the three looked up at her. "Oh, Ginny, would you do us a favor—?"

He was cut off as Ginny slammed the door in his face as she entered her room. She stood there for a minute. Here she was, escaped to her room, and there was nothing to do. She refused to read the books from Sirius's library.

The door opened Ginny caught a glimpse of Harry and Ron's worried faces before Hermione entered, looking concerned.

"Are you all right, Ginny?" she asked.

The question only fueled Ginny's anger. So there had to be something wrong with her to refuse to fall prostrate at the dream team's feet, begging to help them?

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Ginny asked innocently.

Hermione didn't falter. "You looked really upset when you came in here. You didn't even acknowledge Ron when he talked to you."

"I'm fine, Hermione," Ginny said impatiently. "I'm just a regular sister that isn't so hot on being at the beck and call of her older brother all the time."

"Oh." Hermione looked a little surprised. "Well, the favor wasn't just for Ron; it was for all of us. You see, we really need to go to Diagon Ally for something. Something secret."

Ginny stared. Were they daft? "Diagon Ally?" she asked incredulously. Mrs. Weasley was taking them all there next week for school supplies. Couldn't they wait?

"I know, I know," Hermione said. "It sounds ridiculous, but trust me, it's really important."

"Well, why don't you just tell me and then I could trust you very easily," Ginny suggested, tone innocent again, feeling almost sarcastic.

Hermione sighed, obviously not willing to tell the younger girl anything. "It's… complicated. It would be simpler not to."

"Surely if I can trust you, you can trust me," Ginny argued.

Judging from the look on Hermione's face, that was not the case. "We're not asking you to come with us," Hermione said, choosing her argument carefully.

_You never do,_ thought Ginny.

"We would just need you to stand guard at one of the upstairs rooms while we flooed from there. You know, field any questions about where we are, don't let anyone into the room when we're coming back."

Ginny threw all pretenses of agreeableness to the wind. "You expect me to stand guard for you and lie for you for a few hours while you three gallivant about Diagon Ally alone in a time of crisis without any explanation?"

Hermione looked at her blankly, her face portraying her thoughts clearly. _But that's what you usually do._

Ginny flushed, mad at Hermione and at herself. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but that just doesn't sound very fair," she said quietly.

"Ginny, this is important!" exclaimed Hermione furiously. "You don't understand…"

"I wish I could, but you won't tell me!" Ginny shot back, equally furious.

"Do it for Harry, at least," Hermione pleaded. "If not for me or Ron, for him."

"Why?" asked Ginny. "What do I owe Harry?"

"Nothing," Hermione said, realizing that she had made a mistake in trying to reference Ginny's crush. "He just… has a lot to deal with right now, more than you know."

The words tugged at Ginny's heart and fueled her anger. She let anger win. "More than I know… that's how it always is, isn't it?"

Hermione paused, looking mad, obviously choosing which way she wanted to go in her argument. "Ginny, I'm sorry, but that's just how it is sometimes. Believe me, adults aren't in any hurry to share things with us either. But this is really important and we will be forced to go whether you help or not, and it would be much easier if you did."

Hermione spoke in the tone of an adult trying to placate a stubborn child. Ginny refused to take it.

"Well, you'll have to carry out whatever irresponsible, mad plan you have without me to hide it from the grownups, because I'll have no part in it," Ginny said.

"It's not irresponsible…" Hermione trailed off, realizing it was fruitless to argue. "Well, fine. We'll just carry on without you." Hermione left the room, and Ginny caught another flash of faces. The boys had obviously been listening in, and Ron's face was furious, Harry's a bit hurt.

Ginny felt a twang of guilt as she heard Hermione inform the other two of what they already knew. But she was done being the eager assistant.

The trio went off to do whatever it was they meant to do despite Ginny's lack of cooperation, and her afternoon was ruined nonetheless. An angry fire burned inside her, giving her not a moment's peace. When Sirius poked his head in to ask if she had seen Harry, she only shrugged.

Ginny didn't see the other three until the next morning. She got the cold shoulder at breakfast.


End file.
